Citation

Eze UO, Ojifinni KA. J. West Afr. Coll. Surg. 2022; 12(4): 94-101.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, The West African College of Surgeons)

DOI

10.4103/jwas.jwas_190_22

PMID

36590782

PMCID

PMC9802595

Abstract

Trauma forensics is the concept of examining trauma from a medicolegal standpoint in a given jurisdiction. Blunt and sharp force traumas are classified based on the different mechanisms of causation, which have a medicolegal significance. Adopting a standard approach to the medical evaluation of such injuries in patients would serve both the purposes of rendering appropriate treatment and the documentation and preservation of medical evidence. However, most trauma cases are seen by medical practitioners with very limited forensic knowledge and skills, and they are still expected to meet the needs of the court or the judicial mechanism in subsequent legal proceedings. Therefore, some measures, including 10 practical considerations, which are applicable in attending to blunt and sharp force traumas, would limit the risk a clinician faces in the crossfire of medicine and law.

Language: en

Keywords

injuries; Blunt force; medicolegal; sharp force; trauma forensics